Floral Communication
by Gemmal
Summary: AU, Taito. When he starts a new boarding school Tai meets a boy who is, for lack of better words, a bit of an odity. Yamato Ishida never speaks yet somehow he speaks more than most. Can Tai realise this? And if he can will he do anything about it? FLUFF!


**Floral Communication**

_Odaiba Boarding school 2002_

The grass was still wet. The suns rays shone off of the drops of moisture that had accumulated on the boys shoes. It was morning and that was exactly how he liked it.

Yamato hoisted himself up onto a branch of 'his' tree and pulled out the book he had borrowed from the library the night before. It was routine. The boy did it every morning- Mainly because he had nothing better to do but also because he had come to love it. The sound of the morning birds chirping, the soft, cool morning breeze playing against his face and that fresh smell one can only experience when they wake early enough to be outside to appreciate it. Here was a boy who was very in tune with nature though in truth he needed to be as this was the only interaction one could expect when they forgo the choice of speech.

And Yamato Ishida never spoke.

Now usually he was never interrupted, in fact, after their many efforts at getting the child to speak _and _their many failures everyone had given up on him and had become content with spreading hideous rumors about him instead. Of course, this morning went rather differently.

He was startled away from his book by the sound of someone approaching his tree which may not strike any of you as strange but for he was actually quite unusual. You see, he only sat in said tree after the breakfast bell and no later than when the registration bell rang, that way he never met anyone and could have his peace. Now however he was looking into the most gorgeous hazel eyes he'd ever seen.

"Hey, I'm Taichi. Tai for short." The boy had the most enormous brown bush of hair and the most striking grin imaginable. "I'm new. My parents just came into money and I wasn't too happy at public school so my parents moved my sister and me here. I'm thirteen by the way." He grinned again.

Matt smiled. He then did something that anyone who didn't know him – so therefore Tai –would find somewhat abnormal. He jumped out of his tree and picked up a rose from a bush beside it. He then proceeded to remove every thorn from its stem before handing it to Tai and giving him a soft smile.

"Umm…Thank you."

* * *

"You're new aren't you?" A young girl dressed head to toe in pink sat her lunch tray by Tai's

"Yeah."

"So how are you finding it, made any new friends?"

"Not really."

"Well then, let me be the first," She held out her hand, "I'm Mimi and the guy over there in the Orange shirt, he's Izzy and yeah they're nicknames but who can really be bothered with anything else" She laughed.

"True" He smiled, "I'm Taichi…umm…Tai."

"Cool. This can be a pretty weird place to be new in so if you ever nee any help or advice just remember. I'm always in pink." She laughed again before waving Izzy over.

"This is Tai, he's new."

"Hey, I'm –"

"- Izzy, yeah I've been told,"

2Well that's what happens when you make friends with Mimi, can't keep her mouth closed for ten seconds."

Tai grinned before thinking for a minute, "Actually" He turned back to Mimi, "I did meet someone. He was sitting in a tree this morning and when I introduced myself he didn't speak, he just gave me a rose."

"Yamato Ishida." Izzy said.

"He's a mute" Mimi informed him, "Well actually he can speak but he chooses not to. The only communication anyone ever gets from him is if he gives them a flower and not a day goes by without him giving one to somebody. Izzy knows his brother."

"Yes, Takeru. Their parents died when they were young and they have foster parents who apparently they don't get along with. No one knows why he doesn't speak."

"Maybe he just needs someone to make him speak." Tai suggested

"Yes but truly, who can be bothered with the boy in the corner when there are so many other interesting people to talk to."

"Mimi!" Izzy warned

"What? I'm just being honest."

"Well I'll have a go. I'm sure he does talk maybe he just needs the right type of person to make him."

"Maybe." Izzy said, unsure whether to agree with his new friend or not

"Well, all I can say is good luck." Mimi laughed, "Trust me, enough people have tried."

* * *

_I can make him talk, I'm sure I can. I mean. What's the point in living if you don't talk? There's no other way to communicate. _Tai walked up to Yamato's tree with renewed purpose and vigor. He was going to make the golden haired beauty speak.

"Yamato, come down here a second." As expected the boy jumped out of his tree and landed face to face with his new friend.

"Why don't you talk?" _May as well get straight to the point_ Tai thought, "I mean, so you know how many rumors are going around about you, nasty ones at that. Some people even think you killed a guy and are so ridden with guilt that you won't speak. Why bother being silent?" Of course Tai new the exact reason but he wasn't going to let on.

Yamato just looked at him.

"Oh come on. How can you expect to make a single friend if you never talk?" The blonde looked down at his feet and shrugged and Tai knew he wasn't getting anywhere.

_Oh well, you have to be tough to be kind_

"It's pathetic you know!" he suddenly shouted, " So you parents died, so you're fostered, so your stuck in a boarding school you don't want to be in. You're just gonna make yourself even more unhappy this way, I mean look at your brother, the same things happened to him but he speaks just fine apparently. What makes you so special! Or do you just want the attention."

When the blonde boy next looked up there were tear tracks running down flushed cheeks and he had the most unsettling look in his eyes, a look one has when one knows pain and isolation better than most but over all, one of betrayal. Yamato though he may have found a friend in Tai and at that moment he realized he had been wrong. Eyes still streaming he jumped back into his tree and turned away from Taichi but not before thrusting something fragile and twiggy at him and as he looked back while walking away, Taichi could see the sobs that racked the boys' small frame.

_What have I done? Am I really that insensitive? How on earth am I going to make this up to him? I'm so stupid! All he probably wants is to be understood and he's not only got horrid lies being spread bout him, but now he's got the new kid hassling him too. Idiot! Why can't I just think before I speak? There must be a way to take it back but words don't seem to work with him._ He sighed, _Kari's right, sometimes my stupidity is extraordinary._

* * *

It was morning again; again he sat in his tree, a book in hand. Taking in the peace and the wildlife. But this time he wasn't alone. This time he had a brown haired companion who sat by him just as silently, never speaking. He gave to his companion a pretty hyacinth flower. And both were just content to sit.

* * *

_Present day (i.e Three years later)_

And that was the way it was from then. Yamato gained a best friend, one who finally respected his silence and he was happy. Some days they would just sit, not talking, content with one another's company. Other days, Matt would be trying to hide his smile as his best friend spoke of people who had annoyed him or of assignments he couldn't be bothered to do. Of something funny that happened in one of his lessons or sometimes deeper things, of worries and pains and although his companions didn't speak, the arm that was wrapped around his shoulder meant more than any words ever could.

Tai still received flowers from his friend too, everything from Morning glories, daffodils, acacia's, purple lilacs, heliotrope and forget-me-nots. And he treasured every one of them until it succumbed to lack of water. He treasured it because he loved his best friend and he treasured it because it was the only communication he would get from his silent love.

"Don't get so worked up Taichi" Mimi laughed, "Your worried about nothing."

"Nothing! I'm in love with him! He never talks yet still I've managed to fall head over heels for him. The only thing I can hold onto is the flowers that he gives me every day."

"He still gives you flowers?" Izzy sounded completely shocked at Mimi's face pictured the same emotion.

"Well, yeah. Every morning when I sit with him in his tree he gives me a flower, most nights I find something green and flowery hanging from my doorknob and I never know when I may find something sprouting leaves."

"Well then that's all you need to know." Mimi said

"She's right. If you look at it from practical view it's plain to see he feels the same way. Sure he gives most people flowers every so often but never in such magnitude and the way he looks at you, the way he's let you and only you get close to him. It all points to one thing."

"He loves you too!" Mimi squealed

"Great" Tai said sarcastically, "I have my friends' views and practicality and you're telling me that based on those thingsI should risk my heart andlet him know how I feel."

"Yes!" They both yelled

"But how."

At that, all three looked uncertain.

* * *

"Matt?"

The blonde boy turned and looked at his friend, before slipping a Jonquil into one of Tai's button holes.

"I need to talk to you…well at you" Tai gave him a gloomy smile

"It's just…well…I…" He sighed and Matt tilted his head in question

"Never mind."

* * *

_Why can't I just tell him? I'm not the one with the problem with talking, he is so why is it I just can't open my mouth and tell him how I feel. Because it doesn't seem enough that's why. He doesn't find need for words so expressing love through them is just not good enough. Nothings good enough!_

Tai let out a sigh and looked back up at the board. He was sitting in Biology paying no attention whatsoever. His teacher was bumbling on about flowers.

"And not only do they make their own food and live by there own means – something that humans will never do." Blah, blah, blah, Tai thought, "But they all hold their own special meaning." Blah, blah, blah…_Wait, what did she say?_

So at the end of the lesson instead of joining his fellow classmates in rushing out to lunch, Taichi Yagami could be found sitting in a classroom and talking to his science teacher.

"Is it really true that flowers hold meanings?"

"Yes, it is indeed. Sometimes, I find – like so many others- a bunch of flowers can mean more than any words can."

"MayI ask something?"

"Of course."

"Whatis the meaning of a thornless rose?"

"A thornless rose?" She thought for a minute, before smiling"It means love at first sight."

* * *

Yamato was wondering the corridors; he had nothing better to do and was simply lost in thought as he seemed to be a lot of the time lately, it was getting late though and the kids at the boarding school had a ten o'clock curfew so he unconsciously decided to make his way back to his rooms. And there, sitting by his dorm door was none other than Taichi. Blue eyes locked with brown and Tai stood up causing Matt to notice the enormous bunch of flowers in his best friends' hands.

The brown haired boy took in a deep breath and drew up his courage before speaking.

"I think we have succeeded extremely well in completely misunderstanding each other." He started, "But that's mainly down to me, I used to be one of those people who didn't care for anything they didn't understand but then I met you and I realized that really you're actually easily understood if only someone took time out of their busy lives to look deeper and I can't believe it took me this long to work it out, here," Tai pulled out on of the flours, a red one and gave it to Matt, "It's a geranium and it means stupidity which it seems I have been a victim of lately. And this is alstroemeria" He gave Matt another flower, "it means devoted friend and that's what you are even though others may not see that. This one's a Belladonna and it means silence, I respect your silence and I always will." A million thoughts were racing through the blonde boys mind though he spoke none of them, as usual.

"This is a calla lilly because I marvel at your beauty and this lotus stands for your eloquence and the eloquence of your language, spoken though it may not be, it is still beautiful." At that moment he looked up and locked eyes with his love sending a shiver down both of their spines.

"Mossy saxifrage" Tai gave a small white flower to the blonde, "It stands for affection"

Tai could feel his palms becoming sweaty, his nervousness was reaching its peak and it was obvious through the slight tremble in both hand and voice and his loss of words.

"Umm…" His hand fumbled as he pulled out the nest stem, "white violet means, take a chance on happiness. I know your past isn't a happy one and I respect you more than to say I understand because I know I will never come close but if you let me I will devote all my time to making you happy. So this is Mazereon, a desire to please"

At this Matt's head snapped up from looking at the blooms in his hand, was that an implication? Tai looked into the bright blue eyes before handing Matt a red tulip and a jonquil and watching the others eyes well up.

"You've given me jonquil before, it means love me and so I give you this and yes I know exactly what it means. A red tulip is a declaration of love and in all honesty, absurd as it may sound. I truly love you."

Tai's hand moved to the doorknob, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold them all" He opened the door to reveal a room covered in flowers.

"All of these in one way or another mean love, I needed to find a way to show the sheer size of my love for you but this doesn't even start to do it justice."

He took matt's hand and led him to the centre of the room.

"And up there is mistletoe it means –"

"– Kiss me"

"Okay" Fighting back tears after hearing a voice he had longed to hear for three years Tai leaned down and softly pressed his lips to that of the silent- till now Matt's whose reaction was to wrap his arms around the slightly larger frame of the brunette as if he was clinging on for dear life and when the two pulled away he couldn't prevent a tear finally falling down his cheek.

"Are you sad?"

"Overwhelmed." Came the whispered reply.

"Will you let me love you?"

The blonde let out a tiny laugh, one so small and almost silent that you would have had to be standing as close as Tai was to notice it and the brunette felt his heart may explode, "After that, how can I not." He said quietly.

At that Tai let out a laugh full of joy and pulled the blonde into his arms, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For allowing me to understand you."

"That's all I ever wanted."

"I love you."

"And I love you."

_Owari_

**OMW such fluffiness! I have never wrote anything this fluffy before so I understand if it was total crap but hey I was bored and in a strangely fluffy mood.**

**The button is so easy to press, the words so easy to type, the opinion worth so much.**


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